Something Else
by Danemari
Summary: We find our three heroes waiting at home in vain for their parents to return. Little did they know, that their parents were standing out the window, waving frantically at them. Eccentric Auntie Shrew and Darth are moving in! RR!
1. Default Chapter

.. 

...Something Else

This way comes

By Emily Taylor (I shan't marry the prince!) Ariel Johnson (You like? You better?) And Dani Johnson (I want more….)

 By two sisters and a cousin.

Even though she's not writing with us, we feel that we should pay tribute to Christy. She just got asked on her very first date! So here's her name and a quote from her. Christina Johnson (I'm going, I'm going, I'm going on a date!) Congrats Steener! ( And She is also the random phrase girl, who puts random phrases into the story.)

Disclaimer: We own sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. Sugar is good. Cows WILL take over the world. 

Once upon a time, in a magical land called The Land of the Whispering Echoes, three little elven children lived happily with their parents in a tree, until one day DISASTER STRUCK!

Their mom and dad signed up for volunteers teaching dolphins to cancan, and disappeared never to be seen by human eyes. Oh sure, THEY weren't human, so even the kids saw them doing the Rod 'n' Reel once in awhile, but they didn't really matter. And you haven't seen them either! You're not an elf! I hate them. I hate all humans. We hates them, precious! WE HATES them! Anyhoo, these kids were called Giving, Akira, and Niksy.

Giving: (Made by Ariel (You like? You better!) A stubborn 12-year-old boy with fiery red hair. He carries around a frying pan named Ducky. He has a habit of throwing rocks down cliffs among the innocent, but he's cool! He also does the Rod 'N' Reel!

Akira: (Made by Dani (I want more…)A brave but Special thirteen-year-old girl. She likes to Run and frolic in Brookes and Grassy fields. She is only afraid of spiders and squirrels.  She calls her sword Keema and is always talking to her. She is always happy and smiley, loves to practice with Keema. She also does the Rod 'N' Reel. 

Niksy:  (Made by Emily (I shan't marry the prince!)A strong, dramatic, and heroically tragic ten-year-old heroine, Niksy is always suffering, physically and emotionally, for others.  For it is, sadly, her lot in her unfortunate life, a life in which she struggles endlessly  and vainly for a happy ending.  Frankly, she needs to be smacked.  Only fluffy pink bunnies make her happy.  She also does the Rod 'N' Reel.

Now that we have bored you with these silly profiles, let us enter the world of Whispering Echoes. First on the background of The Land of the Whispering Echoes, it's a happy and magical land where, miles away, some ones yell could be echoed by the whispers. Also does the opposite! ***Does the Rod 'n' Reel***  I mean, you could make a mere whisper "I love Harold." To your best friend, and the echoes yell, "I love Harold!" Or, someone far away could be yelling, "Goodbye!" To a traveling merchant, and then out of nowhere you'd here it whisper, "Goodbye…" Ooh, spooky! It's spooky, it's spooky, it's spooky in here! You may think it could also be called The Land of the Yelling Echoes, but who'd want to move THERE??? 

On with the story. We find our three heroes waiting at home in vain for their parents to return. Little did they know, that their parents were standing out the window, waving frantically at them. Akira had noticed them, but with their funky goggles and dolphin suits, she failed to recognize them for her loving mom and dad. 

"Alas," said Niksy. "But we are doomed to be orphans. It was our destiny. Our birthplace. Poor us. Don't worry, dear siblings, I shall somehow manage to take care of our poor broken family. Hire me out as a maid. Oh, alack!"

"Uh…you are only ten. Anyone know what those funky-looking things outside are?" asked Akira.

 Giving got up from the table. "I'll go throw rocks at them. Maybe some of moms priceless atherian crystals, too."

"Wait a minute. Mother would get so mad!  So be sure to pick up the shards when you're done," replied Akira.

"Oh!" exclaimed Niksy. "You are so brave, dear brother!"  

"Giving, Those THINGS are getting closer! They're freakin' me out!" cried Akira. Indeed, the things were pounding on the door. 

Giving went to the cupboard and got his trusty frying pan Ducky. "Be right back." 

"Be careful, dear brother!"

 Giving shut the door as he stepped outside. Various thumping noises of pain peppered the silence. Akira and Niksy didn't dare look out. A few minutes later, Giving calmly re-entered the tree. Glancing casually at Ducky, he said, "Ducky needs a bit of washing." And tossed Ducky into the sink. Then everyone did the Rod 'n' Reel. 

" If that's what Ducky looks like, I'd hate to see those things…" Remarked Akira. 

"The humanity!" Cried Niksy shrilly. Then she proceeded to swoon. 

"Strange, aren't they Keema?" Akira fingered her sword lovingly, then slashed the air. "Did you bring back the shards?" 

"Didn't need them." Said Giving smugly. "Pick that thing off of the floor, will you?" He gave Niksy a swift kick in the fanny. Niksy jerked pathetically and proceeded to drool all over the floor.**everyone does the Rod 'n' Reel**(It's their national dance.) 

All of the sudden, a muffled and disoriented echo floated through the room. "Giving, how could you?!" "What the ding foo was that?" Asked Giving in a 'I-kicked-two-weird-dolphin-freaks-in-the-fanny' voice. 

" I have no idea, but it had a squeak in it. We hear the strangest things in this country, really strange…." The same phrase from before floated into the hollowed out tree. " Giving how could you?!" Afterwards , the voice said, Remember my last, Giving, Akira, Niksy." And the voice was gone.

 "What the freak?!" Said Akira in astonishment.

Niksy regained consciousness. " We have committed some unpardonable sin," she moaned.  "We are being  punished for our wrong doings!" 

"Lighten up, Niks." Said Giving.

Niksy walked to the window awkwardly, and gasped. " They're gone! Never to be seen again by Human eyes!"

"We were never humans in the first place," Giving snapped. 

"Yeah, We're Elves!" Said Akira smartly. 

**Everyone does the Rod 'N' Reel**

~~~~~~Commercial Break!   ~~~~~

            Ari comes out singing "Red and silver kitchenware!  You can take it anywhere!

            Emily:  You can take it on a hike!  You can take it on a bike!

            Dani:  You can take it on a box!  You can take it on a fox!  (Please keep out of foxes)

            Kitchen where?

            All:  Kitchenware!   It's Red and Silver Kitchenware!

~~~~End Commercial Break~~~~~

They waited hours for their mother and father to come home and cook dinner, and find a frying pan, because Giving wouldn't give in to letting them use Ducky. As midnight approached the older two siblings began to think that Niksy's prophecy was coming true.

" This is stupid." said Giving. 

Niksy answered him  with "I feel your pain, Giving. I see your true emotions behind your sarcasm." 

Giving rolled his eyes. 

They ended up having a dinner of  one fourth of a marshmallow each. " This is stupid." Giving repeated." I don't even like marshmallows!"

 Keema and Ducky split the last  quarter of marshmallow. The children turned to the pan and sword to see them eat when all of the sudden, the marshmallow disappeared! 

"What? What happened to it!??" Akira asked. 

"Well DUH! They ate it! What other explanation is there?" Giving answered in an I-know-everything tone." Right, Niks?" 

Niksy gazed out the window and said quietly "It was written in the all-knowing Stars…Mars is bright tonight."

 "KUPO!!!!" yelled Giving. 

Niksy and Akira stared at him. 

"The random phrase girl made me say it! She paid me in marshmallows!"

 The girls continued to stare.

 "I thought Marshmallows were offensive to you," Niksy whispered awkwardly. 

"Uh," he said, scratching his head nervously. " It was the echoes?" 

That seemed to please Niksy and Akira, and they went upstairs to sleep.

 But Akira found it hard to sleep that night. Where were her parents? Were they okay? Akira heard a faint mumbling. "Written in stars… Wandering…. lonely… Written in stars…" Akira looked over at Niksy and saw that her eyes were wide open, and she was mumbling strange words, all the while plucking at a strange crystal necklace around her neck.

Akira shook Giving awake. "Listen to Niksy, She's doing it again."

Giving listened for a moment and then said, annoyed  "You woke me up for this? I get enough of this pook all day! Just smack her and she'll shut up." Without another word, he turned  the other way and fell back asleep.  We feel it is important to mention that all three siblings were lying in cute little forest-y beds.

Akira fell asleep listening to Niksy say," It is our future, we must accept it… written in stars….alas… Written in stars…" 

The three siblings awoke the next morning to the sound of chattering bluebirds.  One of them happened to hand Giving a note.  He grudgingly accepted it and read it in a bored manner. "What is this garbage?" he asked, tossing the crumpled note over his shoulder.

Niksy shrieked and dove (dramatically) for the letter.  "How could you? It might be from the great blue jay god himself!  Delivered by his faithful servant Borby!"  She feverishly opened the note and read it aloud (in a dramatic voice):

Dear Children,

            I have heard the unfortunate news that your darling parents, bless their cotton socks, have mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again by human eyes.  Therefore, I am coming quite soon to live with you and be your loving caretaker and guardian.  I might even come today, if the notion strikes me.  We have never met, as your parents never liked me; your mother is my evil twin sister—"

Giving, Akira, and Niksy suddenly did the Rod 'N' Reel, for no real reason; they just felt like it.

"—so perhaps it's best she has mysteriously vanished, along with that little dog she calls a husband.  Heck, they're probably partying on a beach in San Francisco, wherever that is, she and that little dog she calls a husband.  Well, see you soon, chil'ens!"

                                                                        Love,

                                                                                    Auntie Shrew

"Well, isn't that just full of pook!" Giving said.

"It's our future," Niksy insisted. "It was written in the stars, and we must accept it."

Akira glanced at her brother nervously.  "She said that last night," she mouthed.  "She must rehearse it every Thursday."

Suddenly, the door banged open, and a lovely young woman with her long black hair pulled back in a messy bun stormed into the room.  "Thank goodness you're finally done reading the letter!  I've been waiting out here for hours!  You see, I didn't want to come in unannounced!"

The three children stared at her.  

"Who are you?" Akira asked.

"I'm your Auntie Shrew!" the woman exclaimed.  She put on a pair of tiger-striped cat ears and pounced on the table.  "And I'm eccentric!  Riaow!"

To Be Continued….

Authors' Conversation.  As a little treat (mostly for ourselves) we've decided to include a conversation held by the three authors, Ariel, Emily, and Dani.  (You like?  You better!; I shan't marry the Prince!; I want more. . .)

Emily:  We're all going to act perfectly normal during this conversation.  What do we want to talk about?  I know!  Let's talk about boys!

Ari:  Boys aren't that fun to talk about.

Dani:  How do teenagers live?

Emily:  We could talk about how we came up with these characters.  

Ari:  Alrighty.  Now it was 12:00 when the idea of the three children struck one Emily.  I came up with the aunt.  Dani was against the whole thing from the start.

Dani:  Uh-uh!  You're making me look like a stubborn jerk.

Ari: Okay, sorry.  I just added that for some pizzazz.  Then I remembered something from a book and came up with the land of the echoes.

Dani: We've been taking quotes out of movies for a lot of this.

Ari:  In the book I read they had the fjord of the whispering snakes. I kinda borrowed it.  But it's a lot better this way.

Emily:  I hope it is….

Dani:  We've had a lot of fun making the characters.

Emily:  I like Dani's character, Akira.

Dani:  And getting hyper so we can write fun stuff off of sugar cubes.

Ari:  I never get hyper. Everyone tells me so.

Dani:  Ariel, you never get hyper.

Ari:  But I like my character and his frying pan Ducky!  And Emily, your character is great with Akira.

Emily:  Thank-you!  She's like a screwed-up Mary Sue.  At least to me.

Ari:  We're not talking like normal people.  It's like a commercial for our story.  Emily, let's talk about boys.

Dani:  No….  That Christy has her first date tomorrow.

Ari:  We already said that.  Boring!  We talked about that enough.

Emily: Is anyone even going to read this?


	2. Catsup

Chapter two

Who is Darth?

        **Everyone does the Rod 'N' Reel** 

"And this is my imaginary fruit fly, Fiona." She gestured to the air at the right of her shoulder." I know she's not real, my parents told me yesterday."

Giving blinked while Akira and Niksy exchanged confused looks. "You aren't one of the funky goggled dolphins freaks, are you?" he asked awkwardly. 

"Why have you come to torture us? Leave my siblings alone; take me in their stead! It was written in the stars! Take me…" Niksy cried, flinging herself at Auntie Shrew and landing into a crumbled heap at Auntie Shrew's feet.

They heard an echo saying " Tawhoo Tawhoo!" 

"Darn echoes. They ruined the dramatic tension," said Niksy, getting up and brushing herself off.  

"Tawhoo! Tawhoo!" The voice echoed into their ears as a whisper. "Hey, that's kinda catchy!" said Auntie Shrew. And she said " TAWHOO TAWHOO!" doing a dance with it.

"Now this is getting very annoying." Giving said crossly, watching Auntie Shrew dancing around the small tree. " Come, Fiona! Dance with me! It's fun! Riaow!!!!" Suddenly Auntie Shrew stopped and narrowed her eyes.

"Darth Hates Fiona. Darth Hates dancing." She swiped out the pair of tiger-striped ears and put them on. Then she made motions of catching a fly in mid-flight. She pounced on the furniture a bit, and then ran out of the room. 

"Is she a pink bunny?" Niksy whispered. 

            Just then Darth called  "Has anyone seen my cat-nip mouse??"  

Auntie Shrew came back in, taking off her cat ears.

            "What was that?" Giving asked nervously.         Auntie Shrew looked confused.  "What was what?"

"Um, Darth."

"Oh, Darth. You, see, he's my split personality…He's a space-tiger from the planet Are You My Conscience. It's a long story from my child hood." She giggled and did the Rod 'n' Reel. They all did the Rod 'n' Reel. We all did the Rod 'n' Reel. Bwah ha ha ha ha and a couple of tralalas. 

"That's…odd….." Akira said, in a puzzled tone. 

"It was written in the stars," said Niksy solemnly.   "It was declared in the heavens that you would take care of us!"

"Yay!" the children cheered.  And there was much rejoicing.

"Make some hot chocolate," Giving said.

And there was much rejoicing.  Again.

Auntie Shrew grinned wickedly.  "Hot chocolate is my specialty, my dearies."  She giggled, placing her hand to her lips.  Then she set off to make her "special" hot chocolate.

Then an echo sounded through the window…"I didn't know turtles could fly!"  Followed by "Wow!  You are tan!"

Everyone in the tree exchanged confused glances at this.

"Well," said Auntie Shrew with a shrug.  "Here's my hot chocolate.  Enjoy!"  And she handed them each a steaming mug of cocoa.  

"Is it poisoned?" asked Giving suspiciously. "You seemed kind of. . . .Wicked just then."

" Heh, Darth isn't evil." She flipped on the ears again.  "Drrrrrink up, me hardies!!!! 

Akira and Niksy exchanged nervous glances and Niksy mouthed " In the stars…" 

They picked up the mugs and said, " To the Funky Dolphin Freaks!!!" and drank deeply.

It was just like heaven in liquid form, until Niksy choked and sputtered—on a marshmallow.  " Don't pay attention to her," said Giving, irritated. "She just wants attention.  But this is marvelous hot chocolate, Auntie Shrew."

"I told you!"

"No, you didn't!" 

"Yes, I did.  I told you chocolate was my specialty." 

And that was how they began their happy new dolphin freak-free life.  Auntie Shrew was marvelous, like her hot chocolate.  She let the kids try on their little woodsy beds—except the time Akira broke through, then she put her foot down.  She let them stay up all night—at least till about 11 PM.  She told them bedtime stories about her life in the Himalayas and the time she hiked up Mountain Everest—and threw rocks down among the innocent villagers.  Giving thought that was pretty dang cool, and they bonded over that.  And they taught Auntie Shrew the Rod 'N' Reel.  So they could all do the Rod 'N' Reel together.

Then one day, the echoes stopped!  No one knew what happened, only that the last echo was a stranger whisper of "Who ate my brownies?!"  No one dared admit be the origin of THAT echo.  But everyone had their suspicions. . . .  The citizens of the Land of Whispering Echoes finally tied Old Man Morgus up to a post and pelted him with rotten berries, accusing him of destroying the echoes.  

But despite whose fault it was, one thing was clear:  They needed the echoes back!  It was too boring without them, and they didn't want to change the name of the country to the Land of Normal Vocal Actions.  

The King decided to send some brave Elf-Knight-People (with foresty jetpacks) to see what had become of the echoes.  But none prevailed.  Actually, they just were never seen again by human eye.  Oh sure, THEY weren't human, but. . . oh, heck, you get the idea.

Worst of all, no one wanted to do the Rod 'N' Reel anymore.  But some mysterious force led them to do it at certain times… at the SAME time!  It's cool and everything when you're with your friends and you all doing it randomly at the same time, but when you're forced to… that's just not cool.

Niksy, Akira, and Giving were very sad about all this.  Even Auntie Shrew couldn't cheer them up.  Neither could Darth, when he came around.  At least, they were sad at first, but they had suffered changes before—such as the disappearance of their parents—and had survived.  So they put on brave faces.

"How about I take you to the beach?" Auntie Shrew asked cheerfully one morning.  Then she put on the cat ears.  "Darth likes the beach.  Darth wants to go to the beach."

Niksy sighed and wiped a tear from her eye.  "But beaches are so lonesome and sad.  Like the end of the world.  Alas."

"You're going to be the end of the world if you don't stop it," Giving snapped.

"Darth likes the end of the world," Darth growled.  "Darth's mission is to bring it about."

Niksy burst into tears.  "The end really is coming!  I hoped to forestall it somehow, but I can't defy the mission of my dear auntie's split personality!"

"The world really IS going to end if you don't shut up," Giving said, rolling his eyes. 

            A few weeks passed and the echoes didn't come back. The king worried and sent more knights to try to bring them back. None returned. Then, another DISATER STRUCK!!

Auntie Shrew disappeared. 

"No, she'll end up missing like our parents." Angst said. "Cry." 

They all looked at the stranger who had mysteriously entered their tree.

"Who the heck are you?"

Angst blinked. "Oh, sorry. I went into the wrong house again." He disappeared in a burst of tears. 

"Poor lost soul!" Niksy cried.

"Um…yeah." Akira said.

"I think you and Angst would get along great together, Niksy. If he comes back here I'll pop him one." Giving Grinned evilly at the thought. Ducky would have fun with that.

"Oh look. A note." A leaf screamed at them. "It's painted on the ceiling in ketchup! Stupid heads!"

"Catsup."

"Ketchup."

"Castup! Oh, for the sake of throwing rocks among the innocent, I can't believe I'm arguing with a leaf."

The leaf grinned evilly. 'Another person gone insane because of me for today!' He tallied a score on a leaf. 

"Ow! Hey!" Yelled the other leaf."

"Sorry, I though that you were dead."

"There's too much pain going on!" Niksy cried. "Just read the stupid message, so the fates may be satisfied!"

The note said, and I quote:

"We have kidnapped the Aunt. Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, and a couple of tralalas. No, you idiot. Don't write down my maniacal laughter. Dang secretaries. So, anyways. We have cho aunt. You want her? Better come and get her. Homies. 

Sincerely,

Your friend,

The Squirrel King"

Akira screamed in terror. "I hate squirrels!" She cried.

"He's not MY friend that's for sure." Giving Laughed for a good ten minutes.

"Yay! Another tragedy!" Niksy said happily.

"I'm beginning to think you're setting up these 'tragedies'." Giving said suspiciously.  "Oh well, Let's go! Hop to it!"

They hopped out the door, and into adventure.

End of Chapter Two.


End file.
